595 research outputs found
Thermomechanical controls on magma supply and volcanic deformation: application to Aira caldera, Japan
ArticleGround deformation often precedes volcanic eruptions, and results from complex interactions between source processes and the thermomechanical behaviour of surrounding rocks. Previous models aiming to constrain source processes were unable to include realistic mechanical and thermal rock properties, and the role of thermomechanical heterogeneity in magma accumulation was unclear. Here we show how spatio-temporal deformation and magma reservoir evolution are fundamentally controlled by three-dimensional thermomechanical heterogeneity. Using the example of continued inflation at Aira caldera, Japan, we demonstrate that magma is accumulating faster than it can be erupted, and the current uplift is approaching the level inferred prior to the violent 1914 Plinian eruption. Magma storage conditions coincide with estimates for the caldera-forming reservoir ~29,000 years ago, and the inferred magma supply rate indicates a ~130-year timeframe to amass enough magma to feed a future 1914-sized eruption. These new inferences are important for eruption forecasting and risk mitigation, and have significant implications for the interpretations of volcanic deformation worldwide.This work was supported by the European Commission, Framework Program 7 (grant 282759, “VUELCO”, and grant 308665, “MEDSUV”), the Natural Environmental Research Council (NE/G01843X/1, “STREVA”, and “COMET”), the Royal Society (UF090006), the University of Bristol International Strategic Fund, and the MEXT project (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). We thank Paul Alanis for the seismic tomography data, Keigo Yamamoto for the levelling data, and Takeshi Tameguri for the VT data. We thank Jon Blundy and Kathy Cashman for feedback on an early version of the manuscript
A likely detection of a local interplanetary dust cloud passing near the Earth in the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky map
Context. We are creating the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky diffuse maps. Through
a foreground removal of the zodiacal emission, we serendipitously detected a
bright residual component whose angular size is about 50 x 20 deg. at a
wavelength of 9 micron. Aims. We investigate the origin and the physical
properties of the residual component. Methods. We measured the surface
brightness of the residual component in the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky maps.
Results. The residual component was significantly detected only in 2007
January, even though the same region was observed in 2006 July and 2007 July,
which shows that it is not due to the Galactic emission. We suggest that this
may be a small cloud passing near the Earth. By comparing the observed
intensity ratio of I_9um/I_18um with the expected intensity ratio assuming
thermal equilibrium of dust grains at 1 AU for various dust compositions and
sizes, we find that dust grains in the moving cloud are likely to be much
smaller than typical grains that produce the bulk of the zodiacal light.
Conclusions. Considering the observed date and position, it is likely that it
originates in the solar coronal mass ejection (CME) which took place on 2007
January 25.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic
A trick for passing degenerate points in Ashtekar formulation
We examine one of the advantages of Ashtekar's formulation of general
relativity: a tractability of degenerate points from the point of view of
following the dynamics of classical spacetime. Assuming that all dynamical
variables are finite, we conclude that an essential trick for such a continuous
evolution is in complexifying variables. In order to restrict the complex
region locally, we propose some `reality recovering' conditions on spacetime.
Using a degenerate solution derived by pull-back technique, and integrating the
dynamical equations numerically, we show that this idea works in an actual
dynamical problem. We also discuss some features of these applications.Comment: 9 pages by RevTeX or 16 pages by LaTeX, 3 eps figures and epsf-style
file are include
Coupled spin models for magnetic variation of planets and stars
Geomagnetism is characterized by intermittent polarity reversals and rapid
fluctuations. We have recently proposed a coupled macro-spin model to describe
these dynamics based on the idea that the whole dynamo mechanism is described
by the coherent interactions of many small dynamo elements. In this paper, we
further develop this idea and construct a minimal model for magnetic
variations. This simple model naturally yields many of the observed features of
geomagnetism: its time evolution, the power spectrum, the frequency
distribution of stable polarity periods, etc. This model has coexistent two
phases; i.e. the cluster phase which determines the global dipole magnetic
moment and the expanded phase which gives random perpetual perturbations that
yield intermittent polarity flip of the dipole moment. This model can also
describe the synchronization of the spin oscillation. This corresponds to the
case of sun and the model well describes the quasi-regular cycles of the solar
magnetism. Furthermore, by analyzing the relevant terms of MHD equation based
on our model, we have obtained a scaling relation for the magnetism for
planets, satellites, sun, and stars. Comparing it with various observations, we
can estimate the scale of the macro-spins.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure
Noncommutative Topological Half-flat Gravity
We formulate a noncommutative description of topological half-flat gravity in
four dimensions. BRST symmetry of this topological gravity is deformed through
a twisting of the usual BRST quantization of noncommutative gauge theories.
Finally it is argued that resulting moduli space of instantons is characterized
by the solutions of a noncommutative version of the Plebanski's heavenly
equation.Comment: 12+1 pages, revtex4, no figure
Population-genetic nature of copy number variations in the human genome
Copy number variations (CNVs) are universal genetic variations, and their association with disease has been increasingly recognized. We designed high-density microarrays for CNVs, and detected 3000–4000 CNVs (4–6% of the genomic sequence) per population that included CNVs previously missed because of smaller sizes and residing in segmental duplications. The patterns of CNVs across individuals were surprisingly simple at the kilo-base scale, suggesting the applicability of a simple genetic analysis for these genetic loci. We utilized the probabilistic theory to determine integer copy numbers of CNVs and employed a recently developed phasing tool to estimate the population frequencies of integer copy number alleles and CNV–SNP haplotypes. The results showed a tendency toward a lower frequency of CNV alleles and that most of our CNVs were explained only by zero-, one- and two-copy alleles. Using the estimated population frequencies, we found several CNV regions with exceptionally high population differentiation. Investigation of CNV–SNP linkage disequilibrium (LD) for 500–900 bi- and multi-allelic CNVs per population revealed that previous conflicting reports on bi-allelic LD were unexpectedly consistent and explained by an LD increase correlated with deletion-allele frequencies. Typically, the bi-allelic LD was lower than SNP–SNP LD, whereas the multi-allelic LD was somewhat stronger than the bi-allelic LD. After further investigation of tag SNPs for CNVs, we conclude that the customary tagging strategy for disease association studies can be applicable for common deletion CNVs, but direct interrogation is needed for other types of CNVs
Gravitational Instantons and Moduli Spaces of Topological 2-form Gravity
A topological version of four-dimensional (Euclidean) Einstein gravity which
we propose regards anti-self-dual 2-forms and an anti-self-dual part of the
frame connections as fundamental fields. The theory describes the moduli spaces
of conformally self-dual Einstein manifolds for the non-zero cosmological
constant case and Einstein-Kahlerian manifold with the vanishing real first
Chern class for the zero cosmological constant. In the non-zero cosmological
constant case, we evaluate the index of the elliptic complex associated with
the moduli space and calculate the partition function. We also clarify the
moduli space and its dimension for the zero cosmological constant case which
are related to the Plebansky's heavenly equations.Comment: 36pages, LaTex, TIT/HEP-247/COSMO-4
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